Taking the First Issue 2 - Runescape Is Not Healthy For Children and Other Living Things
11.28.05
There is a new fad taking over children's lives. Following the example of various MMORPG's before it,
Runescape, produced by Jagex Ltd., is a game where players take control of a character they create.
They can customize how their character looks; they can battle other players; and they can complete quests.
But Runescape is slightly different than other MMORPG's before it. It has a surprisingly large number of younger
children taking time out of their days to play the game. The reason for this may be one or more of a few things.
First, the game does not have very high system requirements, and can even be played within a web browser.
This makes it easy for people to play while in school, at home, at a friend's house, or anywhere they can connect
to the internet. Secondly, there is a free version of the game. This free version offers fewer quests, and not
as high levels that can be achieved. Rob, the former Runescape-player who has provided a testimonial and information
for this article, says that he played this free version for about 3 months before moving on to the paid service.
When players join this paid version, the real problems begin. First, the (or their parents)
are paying for this game. At $13.95 every two months, they are now paying about 84 dollars
per year to play this game. Also, because they are paying, players feel more obligation to
play the game, and they want to reach higher levels for their characters. Moreover, they become addicted to it,
and cannot stop playing it. Rob tells us of his addiction in his testimonial:
"When I first started, around October of 2004, I hardly had any idea of what I was getting myself into. It started
off innocently enough; just a few minutes a day, but then its addictive energy soon took control of my life. I found I
was playing in English, Spanish, Physics and even Algebra class if I had the time. I attend a private high school, and
have a massive school load. With getting home around 5, and 3 hours of homework I was going directly to my laptop and
playing 4-5 hours a day. My school is a laptop school, and I have numerous frees during the day. Always, any free time
I had went to Runescape. My other friend played Runescape, and we used to talk about it. I went to online forums and
chatted with about 2,000 other people like myself. I found that my successes and failures in the game and forums
dictated my actual life, I was angry when I died, and even when I would go to my grandparent's beach house, the laptop
came, and on to the neighbors wireless I went. After my one year anniversary, I had bought things on EBay for a total
of about 700 dollars, just to make myself better in the game, so not only did the game take away my life, but a lot of
my money. I never used to hang out with my friends, I play the trumpet 5 years running now, and I had stopped practicing,
essentially, it had consumed my life."
Rob sums it up quite nicely. The "addictive energy" that consumed him and "took control" of his life is the
very energy that is unhealthy for players. At the time I write this, there are 156377 people playing Runescape.
That is 156377 people who are currently getting no physical activity, 156377 people who are probably currently
having no real human contact. These people are just like Rob; they are addicted to this game and are being consumed
by it. Rob himself writes of going to his grandparents' beach house, probably very beautiful, and with very nice
surroundings, and the he says that when he arrived, "on to the neighbor's wireless I went." The time consumption
this game causes is one of the smaller problems. Probably the most major problem is the spending of money. On top
of the $84 per year, players buy items and upgrades on EBay. In one year, Rob says he had bought $700 worth of
"things" so that he could "make myself better in the game."
This game had taken over Rob's life. His "successes and failures in the game and forums dictated my actual life."
He was addicted. After spending over $750 and countless hours on this game, Rob decided it was time to quit.
He writes that, "Once I decided to quit, I had to find out how to do it, I tried half ass quitting, just leaving
Runescape for a while, and staying on the forums, but it didn't work. To keep it short, I started playing less,
seeing my friends more, and began to tell people on the forums and stuff that I was leaving." He says "it was one
of the hardest things I had ever done in my life." He had his mom change the password, but that didn't work. In the
end, Rob deleted all shortcuts, bookmarks, and links to anything Runescape-related. But one task remained.
"Then came the hardest part, I cancelled my membership, and gave all my items to my friend." He had done it,
he had cured himself of the epidemic, the disease that is Runescape.